Recorded Google investment in blockchain since last September crossed $1.5 billion, surpassing any other company in the same time frame.
According to a recent Blockdata report, Google parent Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) investment in various blockchain companies since September last year has hit $1.5 billion. The report states that this makes Alphabet the top blockchain investor for the period between September 2021 and June 2022. Blockdata’s report also includes a list of thirty-nine other corporations from disparate industries, including Samsung, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Tencent. Overall, the top blockchain-investing companies injected a total sum of $6 billion into 61 blockchain and crypto startups. The total injection happened over a total of 71 investment rounds in the aforementioned timeframe.
Alphabet’s total investment was spread across four blockchain companies, including Fireblocks, Dapper Labs, Voltage, and Digital Currency Group. The company’s investment was followed by BlackRock’s $1.17 billion. The prominent asset management company distributed this amount in the past nine months ending June 30th this year. Recipients include Circle, Anchorage Digital, and the popular crypto exchange platform FTX. Tailing BlackRock’s investment scheme is Morgan Stanley’s $1.11 billion injection which went into Figment and NYDIG.
Rounding out the top five on the investment list are Samsung and Goldman Sachs, with $979.2 million and $698 million, respectively. However, Samsung was by far the most active investor on the list. The South Korean conglomerate pumped funds into 13 different companies across a wide range of sectors. These include blockchain services, development platforms, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and social networks.
Google Parent Blockchain Investment: Then & Now
Alphabet’s latest investment magnitude in blockchain-centric platforms stands in stark contrast to its efforts last year. In 2021, Google forked out a much smaller capital sum of $601.4 million spread across a larger number of beneficiaries. Among them were Dapper Labs, Alchemy, Blockchain.com, Celo, Helium, and remittance giant Ripple.
NFTs as Sustainable a Proponent of Blockchain
The latest Blockdata report also comes amid a potentially crucial and pivotal time for the crypto and blockchain industry. This is because conversations around the volatile price of the industry and increased government regulations continue to mount. However, the Blockdata report also ascribed substantial investment interest to the emergence of NFTs. These digital assets featured most prominently in the report, representing 19 companies from the NFT sector. In addition, several of the sponsored NFT projects belong to the gaming, arts & entertainment, as well as distributed ledger technology (DLT) fields. Furthermore, Blockdata also pointed out that “there is considerable overlap among use cases for the companies that offer NFT solutions, marketplaces, and gaming”. This is because twelve of the NFT-focused companies are marketplaces that facilitate token trading. Additionally, 11 of the featured companies also offer gaming services. Speaking on the general NFT mania, Blockdata explained:
“The popularity of NFTs can be mainly seen as an opportunistic move by corporations looking to capitalize on trends to meet where their customers are transacting.”
“The startups raising capital are enabling commerce in decentralized worlds by developing platforms where users can buy and sell NFTs, including virtual land, clothing, and other branded items,” added the blockchain research platform.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
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